The eating habits of people in developed countries have become richer along with economical development, and fat-intake has gradually increased. However, an excessive fat-intake destroys the balance of the amount of lipids in the blood and causes hyperlipemia. In the present specification, "hyperlipemia" describes conditions in which one or more cholesterols, triglycerides, lipoproteins and/or phospholipids that are lipid components in serum are at an increased level, i.e., it means hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, etc. There is an intimate correlation between hyperlipemia and adult diseases of the circulatory system such as arteriosclerosis. Nowadays, many people suffer from these diseases and it has become a social problem.
At present, drugs such as clofibrate, probucol or nicotinic acid are used as a medicament for treating hyperlipemia, but all of these drugs have side effects. Accordingly, a new medicament is required which exhibits less side effects and is safer to use.
The problem addressed by the present invention was to provide a food composition and a pharmaceutical composition for inhibiting hyperlipemia which is responsible for various diseases such as arteriosclerosis, said compositions being very safe to use and having excellent effects.